


this is the place

by inquisitor_tohru



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Developing Relationship, F/M, Force-Sensitive Finn (Star Wars), Mentioned Armitage Hux, Mission Fic, Post-Canon, Psychometry, Stakeout
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-15 02:48:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29677257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inquisitor_tohru/pseuds/inquisitor_tohru
Summary: The Coruscant hotel room was cramped, dingy and poorly lit, with old hexagonal light panels flickering overhead, like something out of one of the contraband spy holofilms that had nevertheless made their way around the First Order's stormtroopers.
Relationships: Finn/Rey (Star Wars)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 16
Collections: Proximity Flash





	this is the place

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Val_Creative](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Val_Creative/gifts).



"Are you sure this is the place?" Finn ran a (thankfully gloved) finger along the edge of the bedside table, leaving a neat line in the thick coat of dust. The Coruscant hotel room was cramped, dingy and poorly lit, with old hexagonal light panels flickering overhead, like something out of one of the contraband spy holofilms that had nevertheless made their way around the First Order's stormtroopers. They'd had to clean the grease-smeared window before they'd been able to see outside, let alone conduct any kind of surveillance, and to top it all off the decor was  _ dreadful.  _ It certainly didn't seem like the kind of place any ex-First Order officers Finn had known would be caught dead...but Poe trusted Zorii's information, and Finn trusted Poe.

"Yeah," he said, floorboards creaking with each step as he went to join Rey, sitting over by the window with their gear. "I guess a lot of ex-Order types are having to lay low nowadays."

"Sure, but this really is slumming it." She jerked her head towards what passed for the ensuite.  _ "Jakku  _ had better facilities." Finn snorted.

"I mean...let's not get carried away now." He narrowed his eyes as he peered out of the window, still streaked where they'd wiped it down. The hotel room opposite them, allegedly occupied by one (former) General Hux, had a balcony with rusted railings that looked more than a little precarious, like he'd actually  _ chosen  _ a place suited for assassination attempts. Maybe surviving his execution  _ and _ an exploding star destroyer in one day had gone to his head. 

Finn's hand brushed over Rey's bare, freckled shoulder as he leaned forward, and even through his glove he felt the warmth of her skin. His chest still tightened and his heart still beat a little faster in moments like these. Though the touches were becoming more frequent of late, he wasn't yet  _ used  _ to them. Spending most of your life covered from head to toe in a white duraplast shell with an occasional glimpse of your squadmates' faces being the most you could hope for would do that, he supposed. 

"Still no sign of anyone," Rey said, taking a moment to check the equipment at their disposal. Normally they'd have brought along a surveillance droid, but the Resistance wasn't exactly overflowing with resources at the moment, so they'd made do with a telescope and Rey's old macrobinoculars. Their built-in hardware was less advanced than the electrobinoculars Finn had grown accustomed to during his training, but they were perfectly usable and had the benefit of night vision. 

"The room barely looks lived in," she continued, picking up the macrobinoculars again after wiping the lenses, "though I suppose he wouldn't have many personal belongings with him."

"No, he wouldn't." Finn refrained from saying that he doubted Hux was the type to have had any personal belongings, period. It seemed uncharitable, even if his feelings about Hux had become somewhat complicated (as was usually the case with someone who'd ordered your execution  _ and  _ saved you from a subsequent execution). Besides, attachment, in any of its forms, wasn't exactly something the First Order had encouraged. 

He noticed that his hand was still resting on Rey's shoulder, and released a breath he didn't realise he'd been holding as she leaned into the touch, not only with her body, but with the Force, too.

"Are you alright, Finn?" She was a little flushed as she turned to look at him, and he had to press his other hand against the glass to support himself.

"I'm fine." He'd felt Rey's presence through the Force before, but she'd never reached out like _that_ before. Finn might have considered resting if the bed had been marginally more enticing than the rest of the room, but as things were he kind of regretted only bringing the _one_ sleeping bag, because this place almost definitely had a bedbug problem. "Just beginning to think that _maybe_ you had a point about Jakku." His gaze flickered back towards the window as he glimpsed movement from the room with the balcony, but it was only a cleaning droid. Still, that was _something,_ since judging by the state of their own room it wasn't likely to be owned by the hotel staff. 

_ Someone _ was in that room, and they were going to find out who.

Finn winced as he watched Rey gleefully scaling the walls from across the chasm, but he needn't have worried. She landed on the balcony, light-footed, and without incident. He'd witnessed her perform far more dangerous maneuvers than this, and they weren't exactly on one of Coruscant's upper levels...but when a misstep could still mean falling one-thousand, three-hundred and thirteen levels, it was only natural to be a  _ little  _ concerned.

He saw the burst of gold against the drab grey of the hotel's exterior as she ignited her lightsaber, which was his cue to get into position in the corridor outside the room in question. The hotel was like a maze, its corridors as soulless and nondescript as the inside of a Star Destroyer. Perhaps Hux felt at home here, if he  _ was  _ here. Finn gripped the hilt of his own lightsaber as he approached the door, and tried not to read too much into how easily he was able to find his way around the place.

When he raised a fist to knock, Finn heard a heavy  _ thump _ from within, and stepped back. He had no doubts that Rey could handle herself, but she'd still need him to be ready if the room's occupant made a break for it. 

As it turned out, he needn't have worried about that either. Mere moments after the initial disturbance and a few low mumbles, Rey opened the door with the startled cleaning droid by her side in an otherwise empty room. Finn didn't  _ want _ to doubt the intelligence that led them here, but this mission was really beginning to feel like a wild bantha chase. It wasn't that he thought Poe - or even Zorii - had deliberately led them astray, but misunderstandings and miscommunications were a fact of life. 

"Fancy seeing  _ you _ here," Rey said, and Finn wondered if she was having the same thoughts. "Could you maybe do your...you know, your  _ thing?"  _ Finn rolled his eyes, though he couldn't stop his smile from reaching them. 

"It's  _ called  _ psychometry." Rey knew that, of course. She just enjoyed teasing him, and he didn't totally hate it. He removed one of his gloves, and pressed his bare palm against the door, feeling for an echo in the Force. The way Rey's presence washed over him like a sunbeam made it difficult to pinpoint any residual memories in the Force, but he recalled what he'd worked out from discussing his meditation with Rey. No two people experienced the Force in exactly the same way, and so each Force signature was unique. The problem with that was that it was often tricky to know precisely what he was looking for, but when he found it, he  _ knew. _

The traces of Hux's presence were faint yet familiar, clinging to the door and coalescing at the doorknob and the old-fashioned manual lock. They buzzed with the kind of nervous energy that came from a combination of too much caf, not enough sleep, and unchecked anxiety. To describe the sensation as unpleasant would have been an understatement, and Finn withdrew his hand as soon as he had what they needed, content with the knowledge that at least they hadn't been wasting their time. 

"He's been here recently," he said, hoping he'd remembered to pack some painkillers when he felt the beginnings of a headache brewing. "But his comings and goings are...erratic."

"Do you think he could be meeting with First Order sympathisers?" Finn frowned, and shook his head. 

"It's  _ possible,  _ but I don't think so. I'm not sure exactly what he  _ is  _ doing here though. It's all a bit hazy." He was relieved when Rey didn't suggest that he checked the room itself - getting into Hux's head, or even brushing up against his consciousness, wasn't something he wanted to do again anytime soon. Or, you know,  _ ever. _

"I'm  _ not _ sleeping in the bed," Finn said, when they returned to their hotel room, exhausted after scouring the wharf for clues and, upon Rey's insistence, authentic Coruscanti street food. 

"It's fine." Rey waved towards the sleeping bag he'd set up on the moth-eaten couch. "I've slept in far worse places."

"No, I mean- there are  _ critters."  _ He almost laughed, fully aware of how ridiculous it was in light of, well, everything.  _ "Nobody  _ should be sleeping in that bed." Except Hux, maybe, though preferably in his own room. Rey shrugged.

"I'm okay sharing, if you are. I know your psychometry can make things..."

"Ha - you said it!" Finn grinned, playfully jabbing a finger at her. Even though Rey didn't finish her sentence, he knew that whatever she was about to say was right - that it could make physical contact with another person intense, overwhelming, or even painful. It was why he favoured high-necked, long sleeved clothing, and only rarely removed his gloves. 

But things had always been different with Rey. 

"I think it'll be okay with you." He wasn't sure if it was because of her own connection to the Force, or to him, or some kind of innate ability to keep her thoughts and memories tucked away from prying eyes and minds, but what Finn did know was that Rey could never hurt him. She'd startled him when she'd reached out with the Force earlier, but it hadn't  _ hurt.  _

Tomorrow they'd return to chasing ghosts, but for now he slid into the sleeping bag beside Rey, and let her memories skim over his skin like so many kisses.


End file.
